Hello! I wanted to share a bit of what the Lord has been revealing to me throughout my time in South Africa, and how He has worked everything to highlight two simple words: behold and enjoy.

As I mentioned in my last blog, I was ecstatic to come to South Africa. I had not felt that much excitement prior to any other country. When we got here, saw our house, and were introduced to our ministry, I knew my hopes and expectations were going to be met… and they were.

During our very first orientation, our host expressed how he desired us to finish well. We came to South Africa expecting to pour out everything we got since it was our last country, but he had more experience in ministry and knew that we would have come back to America exhausted and burnt out. He was willing to do anything that would enable us to finish the race on a high note, and he wanted us to simply rest and enjoy our time here, whether we were in ministry or just spending time with each other at the house.

My team’s name is Charis, Greek for grace / delight, and the other team who we’re living with is Akouo, greek for ear / listen. We were trying to think of a merged team name for a while, and one day, my leader randomly looked up the greek word for “rejoice” from Philippians 4:4, and it was “Chairo”- our team names perfectly combined. Chairo also means delight, thrive, joy, gladness… aka enjoy.

As time went on, this word held its place within our teams. There was so much laughter and delight whenever we were spending time together, going on fun adventures, riding to ministry in vans for hours, or simply enjoying the beautiful weather. Even though I loved being around everyone, my favorite time of day was early in the morning, just sitting with God, reading the Bible, and enjoying His presence.

A few weeks into South Africa, we went to Liv village for ten days to help out with their Easter program. With the help of their staff, we were in charge of Holiday Club, and we organized games, sang songs, and performed skits for the kids and youth. When we weren’t running this club, we were assigned different tasks such as setting up/taking down for church services, cutting 500 pieces of fabric for oven mitts to be sewn, or organizing closets full of shoes, hangers, and clothes.

(the kids!^)

(fabric cutting^)

(hanger sorting^)

At the beginning of being at Liv, I felt very unsettled caused by a sense of purposeless. I didn’t feel very needed and struggled with discontentment. I sat with the Lord and asked Him what my role was for that week and why I, as an individual servant of Christ, was at that village. Expecting Him to assign me a task, send me to talk to someone, or fulfill a goal, the only words that stuck in my head were beholdand enjoy. Behold and enjoy? Wasn’t I there to connect with the kids? Wasn’t I there to serve? Little did I know the Lord had so much in store for me those ten days…

I was in awe of the Lord the whole week. Our ministry was two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon, leaving a few hours throughout the day as free time. Pretty much whenever I had the chance, I would go and sit with Him. The village was located on a hill, with the sunrise on one side and the sunset on the other, and overlooked more beautiful hills with the ocean in the background, and there were so many places to spend time with Him in solitude. I spent early mornings with Him, went on walks in the afternoons, watched the sunsets, and stared at the stars at night. Throughout that week, He also tied together and answered so many scattered prayers in ways I never would have expected.

(nightly sunset spot^)

Near the end of the ten days, our teams listened to a sermon that highlighted three important aspects of our relationship with God: worship, heart posture/motives, and behold. Still amazed by the Lord’s simple ask of me to enjoy Him, I was reminded that that’s why I was created. I was created to know Him. I was created to enjoy Him every day. Everything else is just a byproduct. Everything else is just an outpouring and overflow of His love for me and my love for Him. I was also reminded of the story of Mary and Martha, where Martha is frustrated with Mary for not helping her with her tasks, but Jesus defends Mary and says that she has chosen the right thing by sitting at His feet. (Luke 10:38-42)

The Lord has been weaving these words in everything throughout all of South Africa. He has blessed us abundantly with more than we could ask for, and has even provided us rest and a few days for inward ministry of fellowship (verses outward school/rehab ministry) before we head back to the states. Our host’s goal for us of rest and enjoyment has been accomplished, and we will return knowing that we have finished our race well.

Please continue to pray for us, as we leave here in only four days for America! When we return, we go to North Carolina for a week of domestic ministry, then one last week of debrief in Gainesville GA, and then home!

Mo 😊